Lorraine Durkan – An appreciation

The spirited, witty, adventurous matriarch of one of Seattle’s premier political families died Saturday morning in Seattle. Lorraine Durkan was 83, and came home from Maui to spend her final days in the town where she grew up.

Lolly Durkan was the widow of former state Sen. Martin Durkan, perhaps the best governor that Washington never had. The Durkans’ offspring include attorneys, a mayoral aide, a top Olympia lobbyist, a broadcaster and an actor.

“We fought a lot over issues, large and small, over the years and agreed about a great deal more –particularly as we grew older,” Durkan’s oldest daughter Kathleen recalled in a note to friends.
“Without a doubt, we always knew where the other stood. We also knew, and continue to know, that love is our root bond.”

The future Lorraine Durkan grew up on Queen Anne Hill, graduated from the University of Washington in 1947, and married her college sweetheart in 1951.

Before that, however, she applied to drive a jitney on the waterfront during World War II, and was told it wasn’t for women. She found the Irishman in charge (“Spud Murphy”), got the decision reversed, and was soon a jitney driver along with several of her girlfriends. They adopted striped jackets from Frederick & Nelson as a uniform.

She joined the U.S. Special Services after the war, was stationed in Germany and ran an officers’ club.

The man she married had been an underwater demolitions specialist during World War II. Martin Durkan went on to chair the Senate Ways and Means Committee in Olympia. Durkan and Gov. Dan Evans were instrumental in writing the state’s landmark environmental laws in 1970, even as Durkan was planning to challenge Evans’ reelection in 1972.

Still, Lolly Durkan “was perhaps the better politician” in the view of her daughter Jenny Durkan, a major legal adviser to Gov. Christine Gregoire and the state Democratic Party.

“She never met a stranger and always remembered faces, names and life stories,” Jenny Durkan added. “Together, they raised their seven children (and then some). Her home and heart were always open to others who were quickly adopted as family.”

Lolly Durkan was also a legendary judge of character. She loved to privately lampoon the artificial public praise of politics and, while devoutly religious, possessed an irreverent wit.

She would eventually put her English degree to work as executive editor of the Ballard News Tribune, loving to express her opinions in editorials. She and Martin Durkan traveled extensively in their retirement.

Martin Durkan died two years ago. The senator’s funeral and wake featured former Gov. Al Rosellini, who beat Durkan in the 1972 gubernatorial primary, and Dan Evans, his collaborator across party lines.

Lolly Durkan took a moment off to muse about what advice her husband would be giving St. Peter, at the pearly gates, when Rosellini arrives.